Tag: Asian American Candidates

These aren’t the election results you deserve, but these are the election results you’re going to get right now (Infographic by APAICS).

2014 was a record-breaking year for Asian American and Pacific Islander political candidates: this year, 39 AAPI candidates launched a campaign for Congressional office compared to 29 in 2012 and only 8 in 2010. 22 AAPI candidates made it past their primary races compared to only 13 two years ago. Four AAPIs were running in a gubernatorial race with an additional 3 competing for the Lt. Governor’s office in Hawaii. An unprecedented 159 AAPI candidates were running for a local elected office in 26 states.

Election Night 2014 was certainly shaping up to be a big night for AAPI political representation. Sadly, this just wasn’t our year. After the jump, here’s the the breakdown of what happened last night.

Advertisement

2012 is a landmark year because a record number of Asian American candidates are on the ballot around the country. The following is a list of Asian American candidates running for Congressional and Senate seats this year. (Please let me know if I’ve missed any!)

I’ll update this table as winners are announced.

Sen/Congress

District

APIA Candidate

Party

Opponent

Party

Winner

CA

Congress

CD27

Judy Chu*

D

Jack Orswell

R

Chu

CA

Congress

CD17

Michael Honda*

D

Evelyn Li (also APIA)

R

Honda

CA

Congress

CD6

Doris Matsui*

D

Joseph McCray

R

Matsui

CA

Congress

CD7

Ami Bera

D

Dan Lungren

R

-too close-

CA

Congress

CD9

Ranjit “Ricky” Gill

R

Jerry McNerney*

D

McNerney

CA

Congress

CD22

Otto Lee

D

Devin Nunes

R

Nunes

CA

Congress

CD39

Jay Chen

D

Ed Royce

R

Royce

CA

Congress

CD41

Mark Takano

D

John F Tavaglione

R

Takano

CA

Congress

CD45

Sukhee Kang

D

John Campbell

R

Campbell

HI

Senate

Mazie Hirono

D

Linda Lingle

R

Hirono

HI

Congress

CD1

Colleen Hanabusa*

D

Charles Djou (also APIA)

R

Hanabusa

HI

Congress

CD2

Tulsi Gabbard

D

Kawika Crowley

R

Gabbard

IL

Congress

CD8

Tammy Duckworth

D

Joe Walsh

R

Duckworth

MI

Congress

CD11

Syed Taj

D

Kerry Bentivolio

R

Bentivolio

NJ

Congress

CD7

Upendra Chivukula

D

Leonard Lance*

R

Lance

NY

Congress

CD6

Grace Meng

D

Daniel Halloran

R

Meng

NY

Congress

CD23

Nate Shinagawa

D

Tom Reed

R

Reed

NY

Congress

CD10

Michael Chan

R

Jerrold Nadler*

D

Nadler

PA

Congress

CD6

Manan Trivedi

D

Jim Gerlach*

R

Gerlach

* — indicates incumbent

Of particular interest is Mazie Hirono’s Senate race in Hawaii. She is competing for the seat vacated by the retiring Senator Daniel Akaka. If she wins, Hirono will be the first Asian American woman to serve in the U.S. Senate.